# When did humans start to cut their hair? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2021, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-start-to-cut-their-hair/950936 "2021-09-19T17:32:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-start-to-cut-their-hair/950936/41 "2021-09-21T12:26:56Z")
I remember reading somewhere that people might have evolved thick curly head hair to protect their heads from the savanna sun when they started going upright. This strikes me as implausible, since most savanna mammals manage to do that with shorter hair. But “people who grew longer hair could groom it in ways that are attractive to their peers” seems like a trait that could easily be selected for, like the peacock’s tail. I suspect that long head hair evolved after hair cutting. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2021, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-start-to-cut-their-hair/950936/42 "2021-09-21T16:40:59Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Pretty much everyone did, the \*men are all close shaved \* is fairly standard code for " _they are at war_ Tell that to Absalom. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2021, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-start-to-cut-their-hair/950936/43 "2021-10-06T19:39:22Z")
Yeah, well, look how well that turned out for him [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-humans-start-to-cut-their-hair/950936.md?page=2)